Jayalalithaa Shifted to Special Room From ICU, Respiratory Support to Continue

It may come as good news that the ailing Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was shifted from an ICU room to a special room Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on Saturday, while personalised support system and respiratory support would continue, Apollo Hospitals chairman Dr Prathap C. Reddy said.

The room has been redone next to the critical care unit where she is recovering for the last two months.

“It’s a step down intensive care unit, a kind of bridge between the intensive care unit and special ward. Besides ventilation, it is equipped with medicines and equipment for emergency care,” said the doctors. Doctors and paramedics will keep monitoring her vital organ indicators throughout the day, they said.

Jayalalithaa, 68, was admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on September 22 with “fever and dehydration” and she was put on respiratory support and treated for infection and lung congestion. A specialist from London was called to attend on her and later a team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, was pressed into service.

Dr Reddy said that the Tamil Nadu chief minister would continue with respiratory assistance for few minutes daily to avoid collapse of her lungs and physiotherapy would be continued.

Her health has made AIADMK fans visit several temples in Tamil Nadu and even pray in Chamudeshwari temple in Mysuru as per her old wish. The frantic prayers all over the state proved the support to the leader who is slowly recovering.